Quantifying Your Resume Bullets Even If You Don't Work With Numbers

The fact that accomplishments look way more impressive than job descriptions do is kind of obvious. Generic or even custom written job descriptions will never match quantified achievements on a resume. You've probably heard it thousand times that adding facts and figures to your resume helps you stand out among other candidates. As a matter of fact, it does help HRs to understand the impact your are capable of making. However, what if you have never worked with numbers? There are many roles that require other skills after all. Or maybe you have no access to data or reports to pull the numbers from. If you fall into that category of job seekers, that doesn't mean that quantifying your resume bullets is impossible. In fact, you can add numbers to your resumes even if you didn't work with numbers.

Quantifying Experience

As we have mentioned before, sometimes you don't know exact numbers you can add to your resume. But not knowing the figures doesn't mean you should forget about it. One way to solve this puzzle is to use a range. It is not a problem that you don't know exactly how many clients you process each month or how many sales calls you make per week. Not knowing exact numbers though is a weak excuse not to quantify your experience though. You can simply give your estimate by developing a realistic range. Besides, keep in mind that it is not only about actual numbers you list but rather the impact those numbers have on the company.

Another way you could incorporate numbers into your resume is by including how frequently you do a particular task. This is especially relevant for those who didn't work with sales numbers or in the positions where figures mattered so much. Including frequency numbers can be used by any job seeker regardless of past job titles and accomplishments. This area really helps to illustrate one's work in high-volume environments. By reading one's frequency numbers on a resume a hiring manager will be able to identify how much you can handle - an important criteria for many employers. So instead of saying you just completed first editing pass on topical articles, make it sound something like this "reviewed 60-70 articles per week to evaluate the quality and make the decision to either pass them to the editors or send them back to authors for revisions".

Lastly, show that can ultimately save money for the company. This is something all employers care about so this is a win-win move to make. Streamlined a procedure? Cut operations time? Negotiated discounts? If you multiply those duties by your frequency number and include it into your resume, the effect will be promising. Instead of saying you simply streamline inspection process by upgrading devices, you can come up with something like "Upgraded defect sensing devices that resulted in the elimination of human inspections, which saved $170,000-$250,0000 yearly".

You can also consider how many people you serve. Soft skills really can come to life with numbers built into them. Numbers can make a huge difference in a resume regardless of where you used to work. Next time then when you are giving a final edit to your main marketing document, think of adding a few figures to quantify your experience.